Kari Jalonen was a lanky 6'3" centre who used his reach to became an effective passer and faceoff man. He played briefly with the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers in the early 1980s but was best known as a fine player on the Finnish national team and in its elite division.

Born in Oulu, Finland, Jalonen spent eight years playing for the Karpat club in his hometown. After scoring 26 points in 36 games, he was named the Finnish rookie-of-the-year in 1979. He was a key member of the country's World Junior Championship entries in 1979 and 1980, winning the silver medal in the latter.

Jalonen represented Finland at the World Championships six times between 1981 and 1989 and was a member of the 1991 Canada Cup team. In 1986 he helped the team win the bronze medal at the world tourney.

He signed as a free agent with the Calgary Flames in January 1982 and debuted with the team the following season. Jalonen scored nine goals in 25 games that year but was homesick and played only briefly with the Flames and Oilers after that. Rejuvenated, he excelled with Karpat Oulu and led the Finnish league in points once (1987) and assists on two occasions (1987, 1989). He was also selected as a first-team all-star in 1987 and 1989.

Jalonen later played with the TPS Turku club and helped them win four championships in five seasons between 1989 and 1993. He also played for Skelleftea, Jurkarat Lukko Rauma before retiring in 1995.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1976-77

Karpat Oulu Jr.

Fin-Jr.

24

21

10

31

32

6

4

3

7

6

1977-78

Karpat Oulu Jr.

Fin-Jr.

23

23

18

41

52

1977-78

Finland

EJC-A

5

2

2

4

2

1978-79

Karpat Oulu

Finland

36

13

13

26

30

1978-79

Karpat Oulu

Finland-Q

6

3

4

7

6

1978-79

Finland

WJC-A

6

3

3

6

2

1979-80

Karpat Oulu

Finland

28

23

24

47

16

6

3

5

8

2

1979-80

Finland

WJC-A

5

3

5

8

0

1980-81

Karpat Oulu

Finland

35

16

34

50

22

12

7

14

21

20

1980-81

Finland

Nat-Tm

16

5

1

6

10

1980-81

Finland

WEC-A

8

4

3

7

5

1981-82

Finland

Can-Cup

5

0

1

1

4

1981-82

Karpat Oulu

Finland

33

21

26

47

24

3

2

5

7

2

1981-82

Finland

Nat-Tm

16

5

1

6

10

1981-82

Finland

WEC-A

7

3

4

7

0

1982-83

Calgary Flames

NHL

25

9

3

12

4

+8

5

1

0

1

0

1982-83

Colorado Flames

CHL

33

12

32

44

8

1982-83

Finland

WEC-A

6

3

2

5

0

1983-84

Calgary Flames

NHL

9

0

3

3

0

-1

1983-84

Colorado Flames

CHL

1

0

0

0

0

1983-84

Edmonton Oilers

NHL

3

0

0

0

0

-2

1983-84

Karpat Oulu

Finland

14

6

15

21

17

10

5

12

17

10

1984-85

HIFK Helsinki

Finland

21

9

9

18

10

1984-85

Finland

Nat-Tm

4

0

3

3

0

1985-86

Karpat Oulu

Finland

36

19

35

54

46

5

2

3

5

14

1985-86

Finland

Nat-Tm

11

2

5

7

10

1985-86

Finland

WEC-A

9

4

6

10

6

1986-87

Karpat Oulu

Finland

44

29

64

93

30

9

3

7

10

12

1986-87

Finland

Nat-Tm

17

2

2

4

6

1986-87

Finland

WEC-A

10

2

3

5

0

1987-88

Skelleftea HC

Sweden

22

9

18

27

16

1987-88

Skelleftea HC

Sweden-Q

16

9

15

24

17

5

5

4

9

6

1987-88

Finland

Nat-Tm

9

2

3

5

4

1988-89

TPS Turku

Finland

44

18

56

74

40

10

4

14

18

8

1988-89

Finland

Nat-Tm

13

5

4

9

4

1988-89

Finland

WEC-A

10

5

9

14

0

1989-90

TPS Turku

Finland

37

19

31

50

12

9

5

8

13

10

1989-90

Finland

Nat-Tm

8

1

1

2

2

1990-91

TPS Turku

Finland

26

4

22

26

18

9

3

4

7

2

1990-91

Finland

Nat-Tm

5

1

2

3

0

1991-92

TPS Turku

Finland

44

10

21

31

8

3

0

1

1

0

1992-93

Junkkarit Kalajoki

Finland-2

26

21

45

66

28

1992-93

TPS Turku

Finland

6

0

0

0

6

9

2

3

5

2

1993-94

Karpat Oulu

Finland-2

28

21

46

67

22

1993-94

Lukko Rauma

Finland

18

3

10

13

2

9

1

2

3

4

1994-95

Les Dragons Rouen HC

France

23

16

18

34

4

8

5

13

18

4

1995-96

Les Dragons Rouen HC

France

18

8

26

34

27

5

4

4

8

0

NHL Totals

37

9

6

15

4

5

1

0

1

0

Finnish Rookie of the Year (1979) Finnish First All-Star Team (1987, 1989)

Signed as a free agent by Calgary, January 21, 1982. Signed as a free agent by Edmonton, December, 1983.